LITHOSID.^.. 223 



on the first three segments of the body or only represented by 

 white spots; spiracular line pale yellow or faintly reddisli, 

 slenderly edged with brown above and more broadly so 

 beneath ; legs dark brown ; prolegs brownish. LarvjB of the 

 dark variety are also darker but similar, having the black 

 edging of the subdorsal spots more decided and more com- 

 plete. These spots are found to vary greatly in form, from 

 triangular or wedge-shaped to reniform, oval, or even roundish, 

 and these variations take place among the offspring of typi- 

 cal specimens of the perfect insect. (Buckler and Hellins.) 



August to June on lichens, moss, withered leaves, or even 

 fresh leaves of Polygonum avicidare and Trifolium arvense, 

 blossoms of Lotus corniculatus, or grass. Apparently not very 

 particular as to food, but probably feeding often on the lichens 

 which grow around the stems of heather, though it will freely 

 eat those growing on trunks of oak, ash, and willow. Guenee 

 says that the larv£e may readily be found among dead leaves 

 on the ground, under oak trees, where they hide during the 

 day. 



Pupa stout, reddish-brown. In a very slight cocoon of silk 

 under a stone or moss. 



The moth is rarely seen in the day time, as it usually hides 

 among low plants, especially heather, and if disturbed falls 

 down, with its wings tightly rolled round it, as though dead. 

 At dusk it flies rather briskly, but when caught instantly 

 feigns death, and rolls like a morsel of stick to the bottom of 

 the net. On warm evenings may occasionally be found flying 

 in dozens around a young fir tree, or isolated bush, on a heath, 

 where probably a freshly emerged female is concealed. Very 

 fond of blossoms of thistle and of Scdbiosa arvensis, upon which 

 it may be found quietly settled after dark, at which time it is 

 more inclined to escape by means of its rather long and strong 

 legs than by its wings. A local species, occurring sometimes 

 in woods, far more frequently on heaths ; abundant on the 

 heaths of the New Forest, Hants, and in Dorset, Surrey, 



